Chapter 3355 — Adding Conditions

"Outrageous! That Kang Zhaoming actually dares to toy with us like this—dragging the grudges of his own sect into the affairs of our Palan clan!" Tuo'er Riyue roared, beside himself with fury after hearing the whole account.

"Father, this really isn't Kang Zhaoming's fault alone. He may be despicable, but we were the ones who agreed to it—it was a transaction, after all. If we hadn't been willing, could Kang Zhaoming have ordered us about?" Tuo'er Tu shook his head with a bitter smile. "As things stand, we have no way back. We can only walk this dark road to its end. If we call off the deal now, then not only will I have been wounded for nothing—your injuries will have no hope left either!"

"But to trade your injuries for a single top-grade Great Returning Pill—this bargain..." Tuo'er Riyue's expression was exceedingly grim. However he looked at it, the deal did not seem worthwhile.

"What choice do we have?" Tuo'er Tu was equally helpless. "Who could have imagined that a disciple of the Xuanyuan Ancestor would be so formidable, able to fight across ranks like that?"

"No. This is too great a loss—far too great a loss! I am going to have words with Kang Zhaoming about this." Tuo'er Riyue had already made up his mind.

"Father, what do you mean—" Tuo'er Tu's heart lurched, and he asked hastily.

"If Kang Zhaoming means to play us for fools and keep the truth from us, he had better not expect to get off so lightly!" Tuo'er Riyue rose to his feet and strode out of Tuo'er Tu's room, heading straight for the guest quarters where Kang Zhaoming was resting.

Kang Zhaoming had returned to his room with Xiao Yi. He was still gloating over his success in provoking the Palan clan into a mortal feud with Wei Zhao—and never expected that Tuo'er Riyue would come knocking at his door!

"Elder Patriarch, what brings you here again?" Kang Zhaoming opened the door at the knock and started in surprise.

"Kang Zhaoming, you do play a fine game of schemes, don't you?" Tuo'er Riyue sneered as he stepped inside. "You have been toying with our Palan clan as though we were puppets in your palm!"

"Elder Patriarch, what do you mean by that?" Kang Zhaoming's heart gave a jolt. Surely the old fool hadn't found something out?

"That Wei Zhao is plainly a disciple of the Xuanyuan Ancestor—plainly one of your own Five Luminaries Sect! This is a quarrel within your sect, so why did you say nothing of it? Did you mean to borrow our blade to kill him?" Tuo'er Riyue demanded with a cold laugh.

"So that's what this is about!" Kang Zhaoming's heart eased, and he laughed carelessly. "Elder Patriarch, you have hit the nail on the head. I did indeed mean to borrow your blade to kill him!"

"Hm? What is that supposed to mean?" A flicker of fire flashed through Tuo'er Riyue's eyes as he demanded angrily.

"Nothing sinister. Did we not agree from the start? This is a transaction. It is inconvenient for me to act in person, so I asked you to dispose of this man for me. That is by definition borrowing a blade to kill—there is nothing wrong with it," Kang Zhaoming said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "As for what I did not tell you—well, I hardly think I was obliged to tell you, was I? This is an internal matter of our sect. Besides, the Xuanyuan Ancestor has fallen from power, and my master, the Xuanchen Ancestor, now holds the Five Luminaries Sect. I told you as much before—you simply did not ask for details. My aim is simple: dispose of Wei Zhao. Never mind who Wei Zhao is; kill the man, and when the time comes I will record a fourth-grade top-grade Great Returning Pill for you."

"You—" Tuo'er Riyue had none of Kang Zhaoming's glib tongue, and what Kang Zhaoming said was, after all, the truth. He truly had no way to refute it. The man was right: it was you who failed to ask for details—and now you blame him for not telling? Besides, even if he had told you, would you have refused the deal?

Blinded by greed! Tuo'er Riyue was beginning to regret it. The Palan clan had always been a neutral family, never forging feuds with any sect. And now look—they had been dragged into the internal strife of the Five Luminaries Sect!

"Very well. But my son Tuo'er Tu was crippled helping you dispose of Wei Zhao. You owe me an explanation for his injuries, at the very least. That fourth-grade top-grade Great Returning Pill—add one more to it when the time comes. What do you say?" Tuo'er Riyue's whole outburst had, in truth, been aimed at securing some advantage for himself; since he could not win the argument, he simply stated his terms outright. "This is my bottom line!"

"Elder Patriarch, it is not that I, Kang Zhaoming, am unfeeling. A deal is a deal—these things were agreed upon. You cannot expect me to add a top-grade Great Returning Pill just because one of your people was injured. If another of your people is hurt in a few days, am I to hand over three top-grade Great Returning Pills?" Kang Zhaoming was naturally in no position to agree outright. Though refining fourth-grade pills was a highly uncertain business, it was not absolutely impossible.

If the Xuanzhen Ancestor should succeed one day, the debts he would owe outside would pile up enormously. And fourth-grade pills—how could they be refined so easily? Besides, Kang Zhaoming had his own considerations. If he had agreed to Tuo'er Riyue's demand without a moment's hesitation, it would have rung false. Tuo'er Riyue knew perfectly well how precious a fourth-grade pill was; if Kang Zhaoming had consented without so much as blinking, Tuo'er Riyue would have suspected he was only boasting to fob him off.

"Of course there will be none in the future. These two pills—that is my bottom line," Tuo'er Riyue said. Seeing Kang Zhaoming's attitude, he actually felt reassured—just as Kang Zhaoming had calculated: had he agreed at once, Tuo'er Riyue would have been certain the Five Luminaries Sect could never refine a fourth-grade pill and was simply making reckless promises.

"Elder Patriarch, this is a fair transaction, entered into with the consent of both of us. If, from now on, everyone who does business with the Five Luminaries Sect may alter the terms at will, how are we to conduct ourselves in the future?" Kang Zhaoming, too, had to consider the Five Luminaries Sect's dignity.

"Fine. In that case, I shall simply find someone else to trade with! That Wei Zhao is still locked in the Palan clan's trap dungeon. Since his master is the Xuanyuan Ancestor, perhaps he too is skilled in the art of pill refinement. I shall go and strike a bargain with him—I daresay he will be glad to trade with me!" Tuo'er Riyue had not expected Kang Zhaoming to be so unbending. He had thought that after saying all this, Kang Zhaoming would half-yield and agree—who would have known he would prove so firm? With no other recourse, Tuo'er Riyue could only press on doggedly with his mix of threats and inducements.

Yet in his own estimation, the effect was likely to be slight. After all, Tuo'er Tu had said that Wei Zhao himself confirmed his master had been stripped of his position and was no longer the head of the Five Luminaries Sect.

Of course, Tuo'er Riyue did not know that although Kang Zhaoming was the Xuanchen Ancestor's son-in-law and appeared to wield great authority within the present Five Luminaries Sect, the Xuanzhen Ancestor was a special case. Even the Xuanchen Ancestor would not presume to order him about in the matter of pill refinement—that had to be negotiated. How, then, would Kang Zhaoming dare to make decisions on his own? (To be continued)

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